How to Make South African Style Biltong: Beef Jerky Doesn't Compare

by Kevin Estela August 15, 2018

Dried meat has been a staple of the outdoorsman’s diet for thousands of years. From one culture to the next, indigenous people have found ways to preserve meat for the long trail, as an emergency energy source, or the occasional snack. Recently, while on safari in South Africa, I had the opportunity to learn more about the national variety, biltong, from my friend and Professional Hunter, Russ Field. Since Russ is responsible for harvesting wild game on a regular basis and hunts well over 200 days a year, you can be certain there is a healthy supply of this dried meat at his lodge, in the safari truck, and at lunch. The process is extremely simple and the end result is only a week’s wait away.

Read More

Resilience

by Brian Griffin August 01, 2018

Knife makers, as well as the makers of many other tools, started looking into synthetic materials shortly after the turn of the 20th century. The goal being to make their tools easier to produce and less environmentally sensitive. The best evidence of when this practice became more widely available and less cost prohibitive can be seen in government issued military equipment from around the globe. Military personnel have to be able to function in any environment and in any weather, in order to be effective in their duties. In WW-I most of the furniture on tools and weapons; rifle stocks, bayonet handle scales, shovel handles, etc. was still being made of wood as they had been for centuries. By WW-II much of the wood had been replaced with plastics. By the 1960s most of the wooden furniture had been replaced with synthetic materials and blades made of corrosion resistant alloys were being developed and issued.

Read More

Cleaning Fish with the Fiddleback Forge F2

by Kevin Estela July 24, 2018

The Fiddleback Forge F2 is Andy Roy’s interpretation of a fish and fowl knife. It has a featherlight blade with a fine edge that is exceptionally nimble in hand and perfect for processing both fish and small game. When this knife came out, I knew I had to have one as I find myself fishing and hunting birds more than I do large game and this knife seemed ideal. It doesn’t add much weight to the pack and it is purpose built. I received my desert ironwood F2 with only a few days before leaving for South Africa on safari where it would get a really thorough field test. [...] The next morning, I took a trip to my favorite local fishing hole and came up with two rainbow trout that would taste great for lunch. Just as I started to clean the first, I had an epiphany and came up with this “how to clean a fish” instructional for the Fiddleback Forge website.

Read More

Planning for South Africa

by Kevin Estela July 06, 2018

In late July, I will be headed on a dream vacation, a safari in South Africa. I will be joined by friends of Fiddleback Forge, Justen and Liam. We will be guided by the seasoned professional staff at Russfield Safaris. This hunt has been a long time coming. At one point, we even thought Andy was going to join us but with the new shop and knives to be made, we couldn’t pull him away from making the sharp tools you enjoy using. With less than 2 months to go, I’ve been getting my gear tucked away in the corner of my office (ok, it’s more like a room with an explosion of gear and piles of awesomeness everywhere in organized messes). This trip is coming up soon and I think it is time to start talking about it more publicly. This is the first of a few blog entries about this epic adventure.

Read More